Sen. Lautenberg: Bon Jovi Gets Him Rockin' (And Raising $$)

Leave the early evening wine-and-cheese fundraisers to the youngsters who are up for re-election this year. Octogenarian Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) will do it differently. With a lot more noise, and probably more tattoos, acid-washed jeans and black t-shirts.

Lautenberg, who turned 84 last week, prefers rocking out while he raises money, as he will next month when his buddy Jon Bon Jovi is scheduled to perform at the Verizon Center in Washington on Feb. 28.

"Rock out NEW JERSEY style," says his Senate campaign's "save the date" email to rockin' donors. It'll cost you a little more than face value to watch Bon Jovi's "Lost Highway" show with Lautenberg: $1,500 per ticket; $2,500 for a pair; or - total deal - $5,000 for four.

Lautenberg has told us before that he and Bon Jovi, a New Jersey native and political power broker in his state, are personal friends. "He's a wonderful person," the senator says. (Bon Jovi's wife has donated money to Lautenberg under the couple's official last name Bongiovi.)

The Jersey political scene has been afire with rumors that Bon Jovi might pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jesse Ventura and run for public office.

But for now Jon Bon remains a rock star and Lautenberg, for one, is pumped for next month's show. "It's not only an opportunity to show Jersey pride in D.C., but to raise money for a great cause."

That great cause, of course, is Lautenberg's fourth re-election campaign -- if you count his 2002 race, when Democratic leaders pulled Lautenberg out of retirement to succeed Robert Torricelli, who was too badly bruised by allegations of unethical conduct to run again.